Month: February 2017

On February 27, 1994, Auburn Hills Firefighter Dennis Dearing Jr. responded to a fire call which would be his last. Dennis made the ultimate sacrifice that day and lost his life while in the service of this community. Each year, our Fire Department pays tribute to Firefighter Dearing on the anniversary of his death. Today, unlike many past memorials held on February 27th, the sun was shining and the tribute was exceptionally beautiful. Chief Manning delivered some powerful remarks and we were honored to be joined by some of our neighboring fire departments, namely Rochester, Rochester Hills, Oakland Township, and Waterford Township. Dennis’s son Tyler, now a newly sworn-in Police Officer with the Birmingham Police Department, was also in attendance. The Auburn Hills community will be forever grateful for the service of Dennis Dearing Jr. and our continued thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

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I have known Greg Jordan for many years and count him among those key staff at Oakland University that are an integral part of what makes OU a great institution of higher learning. So it comes as no surprise to me that Greg is receiving a very prestigious national award.

Greg is the director of Oakland University’s Recreation and Well-Being department, and has been named the recipient of the 2017 National Intramural Recreational Sports Association Honor Award. It is NIRSA’s most prestigious recognition.

The NIRSA Honor Award is given annually to a NIRSA member of outstanding professional achievement who has demonstrated exemplary service to the association during his or her career and has made significant contributions to the field of college recreation. It has been given since 1963 and this is the first time a leader from Oakland University has been selected for the award.Continue reading “May I Say “It’s No Surprise to Me””→

Today was a proud moment for me as I looked on as City Clerk Terri Kowal administered the Oath of Office to seven new Firefighters. Last year, with the wonderful support of the Auburn Hills community, the citizens voted to increase funding for the Fire Department in order to expand what was a traditionally small Fire Department workforce into one that will more adequately protect the citizens, businesses, and visitors to our community. About one year ago, we were a department of 14 full-time Firefighters. Today, we are pleased to announce that with the addition of those just sworn in, including one who was not in attendance today, we have 20 full-time Firefighters which will allow us to staff all three of our fire stations. We still have one more to go very soon to bring us to our desired operational total of 21.

An Oakland University study on the effects of preventative, home-based physical therapy on senior citizens has been selected to receive a $23,300 Health Innovation Grant by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS).

The university is also providing an in-kind match of $10,418.85 for the project.

“It’s very exciting,” said Dr. Chris Wilson, an assistant professor of physical therapy at Oakland University. “In terms of the health and wellness of senior citizens, it’s been such a neglected area. So for us to know that other people in the state of Michigan share our vision, it gives us a confidence boost to keep going.”

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On Saturday evening, I had the privilege of being invited to a dinner party at the home of our friends Jerry and Betty Stone who live in Lathrup Village. I’ve written about them before. Jerry was the City Administrator of Lathrup Village until 1991 when he retired. He hired me in 1990 in my first position in local government management. After all of these years, we still remain in contact.Continue reading “Celebrating Christmas…Again!”→